Opinion
Education Letter to the Editor

Review, Don’t End, Zero-Tolerance Rules

April 19, 2011 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

I believe Gara LaMarche brings up a valid point with regard to the necessity of reviewing current discipline models utilized at various schools and levels of education in the United States (“The Time Is Right to End ‘Zero Tolerance,’” April 6, 2011). Unfortunately, his premise for abolishment is fatally flawed. As a current principal in a small K-8 urban school and most recently an assistant principal in a very rural high school, I have been the one imposing this policy. I believe to globally remove it would do a serious injustice to the safety and security inside our educational settings.

My exposure to the zero-tolerance policy has been limited to weapons, drugs, and extreme violence in our schools. I believe that part of the policy should remain in force. I agree with Mr. LaMarche that the examples he cited were possibly extreme, but as we know there is more background to each situation. In the spirit of revision, we could easily set benchmark standards for when to apply a zero-tolerance policy in full force and when to apply a reduced standard.

Scott E. Van Vooren

Principal

Graystone Academy Charter School

Coatesville, Pa.

A version of this article appeared in the April 20, 2011 edition of Education Week as Review, Don’t End, Zero-Tolerance Rules

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: January 17, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education In Their Own Words The Stories That Stuck With Us, 2023 Edition
Our newsroom selected five stories as among the highlights of our work. Here's why.
4 min read
102523 IMSE Reading BS
Adria Malcolm for Education Week
Education Opinion The 10 Most-Read Opinions of 2023
Here are Education Week’s most-read Opinion blog posts and essays of 2023.
2 min read
Collage of lead images for various opinion stories.
F. Sheehan for Education Week / Getty
Education Letter to the Editor EdWeek's Most-Read Letters of 2023
Read the most-read Letters to the Editor of the past year.
1 min read
Illustration of a line of diverse hands holding up speech bubbles in front of a subtle textured newspaper background
iStock/Getty